WELLINGTON, June 14 (Reuters) – All Blacks coach Steve
Hansen has been forced to make just one change to his starting
side for New Zealand’s second test against Ireland in
Christchurch on Saturday (0735 GMT), keeping faith with the
squad that dismantled the tourists a week ago.
Loose forward Victor Vito, who started in the 42-10 victory
over the Irish at Eden Park last weekend, was ruled out with a
knee injury and Adam Thomson promoted to the starting lineup
Hansen named on Thursday.
Uncapped loose forward Sam Cane was added to the bench for
the Rugby League Park match, the first test in Christchurch
since 2010 following a devastating earthquake in February last
year that killed nearly 200 people and destroyed much of the
central city.
“It’s great that test footy has returned to Christchurch and
the players are looking forward to playing in front of a
sell-out crowd,” Hansen said of the expected capacity turnout of
21,000.
“The team, especially those of us from Christchurch, know
that people have still been doing it tough so hopefully we can
give them a performance on Saturday that puts a smile on their
faces.”
On Sunday, Hansen said he did not expect to make many, if
any, changes for the second test following the dominant display
at Eden Park, but would consider shuffling his pack for the
third test in Hamilton if the series was sealed in Christchurch.
“Once again, for us its about our preparation, getting
clarity early in the week and building in intensity so we can
have a performance we can all be proud of on Saturday,” Hansen
said.
“We (the coaches) are expecting further improvements in our
game due to the extra training and preparation time we have had
together, along with having a game under our belt.”
“We are also expecting Ireland to improve, as they are a
nation with a never-say-die attitude so what we did last time
wont be good enough.”
New Zealand: 15-Israel Dagg, 14-Zac Guildford, 13-Conrad
Smith, 12-Sonny Bill Williams, 11-Julian Savea, 10-Dan Carter,
9-Aaron Smith, 8-Kieran Read, 7-Richie McCaw (captain), 6-Adam
Thomson, 5-Sam Whitelock, 4-Brodie Retallick, 3-Owen Franks,
2-Andrew Hore, 1-Tony Woodcock
Replacements: 16-Hikawera Elliott, 17-Ben Franks, 18-Ali
Williams, 19-Sam Cane, 20-Piri Weepu, 21-Aaron Cruden, 22-Ben
Smith
(Editing by John O’Brien)
